Girl power and mellow magic: my Friday at Glastonbury

After a gorgeous sunny Thursday, having chats and pottering around with my friend Sali on the farm, I woke up yesterday ready for the first day of music at Glastonbury and with a load of people on my list to see.

To start the day I headed to the Woodsies stage, a little red and white candy striped tent. Lorde was rumoured to be the secret set that morning and news had travelled fast. I couldn't so much as see over the overspill so I carried on walking.

Making my way to the Pyramid Stage, my first show of the day was Supergrass with Sali. I don't know their repertoire inside out but I know Clueless inside out, and getting to hear Alright live in the sunshine was fantastic.

The sun was blisteringly hot by now, so I had a quick sit down in the shade, got a load of water into me and found a spot surprisingly near the front for CMAT and her Very Sexy Band. My friend Neil had only recently told me he loved her so I am relatively new to the party. Honestly, she is up there with one of the best people I've ever seen live!

I find it hard to fully get into a gig when I don't know the words because for me the joy is in singing along, but this was different. She managed to get the whole crowd to do a traditional Irish two-step dance for I Wanna Be a Cowboy, and her little chats between the songs just made for the warmest and happiest atmosphere. At one point she stopped the show to pause, get her band in a little secret huddle and could be overheard asking "how do you think it's going? I think they like us." She's enjoying herself so much during this set that we all enjoy ourselves too.

This was my first time ever at a barricade for a concert because they make me nervous, but I'm so glad I managed it for this one. Naturally all of Ireland came out to see our kindred spirit. I saw Andrew Scott headed in that direction when I was walking in and then Annie Mac making her way to the centre of the crowd.

I've got a few different pockets of friends here this year, so it's been lovely to weave in and out. We've all got different musical tastes and so there's always someone to go to something with. After CMAT, I went and met the coach crew to see one of their favourite bands, Shed Seven. I didn't know of them at all but they were a really perfect watch for this time of the day, easy to sway along to and a moment to catch your breath. That said this was one of the most engaged shows I went to, with everyone singing along and loving them.

The coach crew are friends of Neil's and they go to Glastonbury every year. We all joined this massive local WhatsApp group to be put into groups of 6 to try and get tickets, and I managed to get our 6 our tickets. From there, a smaller splinter group formed of those of us travelling by coach, and I met them all for a drink a few months ago ahead of the big day. Taking to the coach on Thursday morning, I was with two couples, Roisin, Wayne, Martin and Lucy, and they all just took me under their wing. They have been a really lovely and unexpected part of the experience and I've been loving spending the time with them. I had a bit of a week of it this week before I came, and we all had a good laugh at my expense.

Leaving the coach crew behind having all shared the celebrities we'd spotted so far, I made my way back to the Pyramid Stage for Lewis Capaldi. As he said himself, he was the worst kept secret when it came to surprise sets, so everyone knew he was there and the crowd was heaving. To be honest I find the Pyramid Stage a bit overwhelming for that reason, so it took me a minute to find a spot I was comfortable in (near the exit!) because people truly arrived in droves. He gave a very emotional shorter set, explaining that he has been desperate to come and finish what he started after being unable to sing Someone You Loved back in 2023 (my first Glastonbury). The sheer volume of people that came to wish him well was really moving. It was clear that this wasn't just to hear him sing (and he was wicked, as always). Everyone knew this gesture would mean a lot to him and decided to show up and support. It was a really kind moment to be part of and I hope it meant a lot to him.

Following another restorative sit down in the shade (is this the most boring Glastonbury account you've ever read?) I made my way back to the Pyramid Stage for the person I'd been most excited to see on the line-up, Alanis Morissette. Martin from the coach crew came and found me because I am innately terrible at following directions, and I joined the team to see one of the people I listened to the most growing up. The queue was huge for a drink so Lucy give me a G&T tinnie from her bag, and a film began to roll of Alanis' journey from the beginning.

It's incredible to think of the power of a single musical note, but with the first blast of her harmonica, we knew we were opening with Hand in My Pocket. It made me instantly feel emotional and I said it to Roisin who was just as happy to see her. I explained that this whole album really reminds me of my sister, of being little while she was older, and generally remembering our bedroom and our house when we were young. She always had this on. Roisin said her connection to this album was exactly the same thing! Her sister is 7 years older than her, mine is 9, and we said it took us back to generally just wanting to be immersed in all of their things.

The nostalgia was the most powerful part of this set for me, and I was truly amazed by Alanis' star power. Her voice is just as great as it ever was, she performed hit after hit so you recognised every last thing on the bill, and it felt like everyone had a little healing of some kind in those moments. She also used the space on the screen beautifully, sharing shocking stats about women's rights (or lack thereof) towards the start of the show, and kind testimonies and fan messages from social media when she closed with Thank You. Hand in My Pocket was beautiful, singing along to Ironic with everyone was something I will always remember, and the way a previously mellow crowd all went feral for You Outta Know told me that we've all had a few boy problems over the years. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear an album I love so much in an environment that is unlike anything else in the world. I'll remember this one forever.

The great thing about Glastonbury this year is that they have an app where you can tick off the acts you're going to see on a calendar and then share your calendar with your friends. Examining my map, I could see that both Kelly (my friend from uni) and Naaman were down for PinkPantheress, so I too made my way to PinkPantheress. She was totally new to me but I ended up recognising a good few of her songs, and it was just nice to have a dance after quite a zen few shows in a row. Kelly and I haven't seen each other since 2012 as she lives in America, and she waved her Mr. Darcy's hand flag so that I could find her. When I first did my internships after graduating, Kelly had already moved to London so I slept on her couch. Fun fact: I get a notification on my MAC every year about her then boyfriend's birthday and I have no idea how to turn it off. Happy birthday to you yet again, Liam.

After a quick pit stop to charge my phone, Naaman and I headed to the Other Stage to watch Busta Rhymes with his friends. I was so hoping he'd bring out Janet Jackson, but at the very least we got to hear their song and he paid the honourable respects to her and Mariah Carey which I thought was lovely. His set was 50% playing the classics and 50% chats, which is 100% what my set would be if I was ever a pop star. It was quite hypnotising to hear him live because of the speed of his voice; he said at one point "we don't need special effects. We *are* the special effects."

I'm sure you can gather that by this point I felt like I'd run a marathon, so me, Naaman, Nicole and Adem made our way to a cosy bar bench to sit and regroup while we planned our next steps. It was dark, chilly, and nothing on the line up was a real deal breaker for any of us. We found ourselves back at the tent, cross legged on the grass with a few torches ablast, embarking on a Top of the Pops board game. After a few rounds, we discovered that Beyoncé appeared to be a shared specialist subject among us, created a few of our own splinter games like "name a Beyoncé song that starts with every letter of the alphabet A-Z" and all got to bed for 12. Bidding each other goodnight and parting ways along the path, Naaman and I did a big double take as we realised Louis Tomlinson had been the person to gently pass through us.

Speaking of celeb spots, my Friday tally is as follows: Andrew Garfield (I said hello to him and he was lovely), Andrew Scott, Eddie Redmayne, Chris Moyles, Louise Redknapp, Louis Tomlinson, and SO kismet was Ncuti Gatwa because I have a lovely Substack post coming up soon that involves him!

That's all from a very memorable Friday. More to come tomorrow. If you aren't already following me on Instagram, my page is @RoseGallagher and I'll be sharing all of my adventures on there in real time.